Noble Man wrote:Just home from this one and really enjoyed it despite the rain all day!!

Good to hear you enjoyed your trip, NM. You'll have to come back in better weather!

Andy.C wrote:then Adrian came and stopped, and got beat by pace on his near side.

I'll forgive Adrian that one, Andy. It happens. It wasn't a terrible bloomer & he did narrow the angle. The pass was pretty perfect, the way it faded slightly outwards, catching him between two stools. I was more dischuffed about him then getting beaten on his near post but agree it was the speed the shot was going, that beat him.I fear if Hart was playing, we may well have lost that match, although Hart did well against the Shrews, to be fair to him.

I didn't realise until I read it this morning but Bournemouths goal was their first shot on target! I thought arnie's finishing didn't match his approach play, but all in all a decent match, much better football than a few months ago.

To me we clearly lacked a clinical finisher at the start of the game after all those initial chances created. We had one very good clinical finishers yet again on the bench kicking his heels then as soon as he's on, he scores within minutes and his first real effort at goal.

For me, as much as Arnautovic has done well of late alone up front, I just cannot see him making that position his own long term as I don't see him as consistent or as clinical in front of goal (purple patch aside). What I'd personally like to see long term, is either playing them both as a 2 up top like how they played when Hernandez came on, or with Hernandez up front and with Arnautovic creating behind him joining attacks facing goal more than with his back to goal. It'll be difficult for some to go along with right now as he's been in such good form of late however like Saturday, I don't see that lasting longer term and it just doesn't quite look or feel right. I'd go with 2 up top in a 352 at the moment and see where that takes us.

Any two of Obiang, Noble, Kouyate have proven time and time again that even the weakest of teams can walk through our midfield. It doesn’t matter if it’s Bilic or Moyes, if we play attacking football with two in the middle we get over run and usually hit for 3

I dont think we were terrible either if i'm honest, we definitely had the better chances and could have scored a few more.

There goal came from a HUGE void in our midfield (as always) and a good pass pass there bloke in who blitzed Zaba for pace.

I agree these are the games we should be winning however we are progressing and Moyes and his team seem to be getting the better out of our team. He needs to be back this window, If we signed 2 players and they are both Centre midfielders i'll be more than happy. They need to improve our first 11

Andy.C wrote:The challenge on Kouyate didn't look like a foul to us, he just lost the ball and went down and tried to con the ref and stayed down. Didn't look to us that he needed treatment but they came on and used the Majid sponge then he walked straight off and ready to come back on, so all pointless and we are a man down.You are right the ref didn't let him back on until they were on the attack, we kicked the ball straight back to them and they were off again while Kouyate was still off. I thought ref held him back on purpose cause he didn't think he was injured.

Seen the sky half hour now. He got the ball but got a big piece of Kouyate either slightly before or at the same time, their commentary seemed to suggest he was unlucky not to get anything for it. I don't believe he really needed treatment, had he stayed down a bit and declined treatment or at least got up before the game was stopped we probably don't conceed that goal. But hen we probably don't score ours and we play out a nil nil so...

Any two of Obiang, Noble, Kouyate have proven time and time again that even the weakest of teams can walk through our midfield. It doesn’t matter if it’s Bilic or Moyes, if we play attacking football with two in the middle we get over run and usually hit for 3

I complately disagree. I think we can play two in midfield, but only if we sign a proper defensive midfielder.

When we're played two in the middle from Noble, Obiang and Kouyate, we've been overrun and conceded too many.

I agree broadly with what you are saying here but I think those 2 up top wouldn't get us where we need to be.

To qualify this formation has worked for us with Arnie and Antonio with Lanzini behind, then Lanzini and Arnie with well the odd bit of support from behind. But I think it's only worked because the 2 up top are happy to put the extra in to get wide, help out and switch about. I like Hernandez, at what he does he's one of the best, but he doesn't do that, it's not his game. He'll look starved of the ball and ineffective and get stick for it.

He would work as central to a 3 (as long as everyone noticed it was him not Carroll playing), he would work as part of a 2 in a 4-4-2, but he simply doesn't have the pace, strength, crossing or work rate we need for the 2 in that system.

One of the biggest problems for me against Shrewsbury was that everything was through the middle, Byram and Masuaku were chained too far back in the 4 and we had no one who would go wide to receive the ball - until Arnie arrived. Hernandez in that 2 would make us too narrow down one side - probably the right as Arnie tends to go left further exposing an already exposed Zabaletta's shortcomings in terms of pace and stamina.